Alema Valla

[Enara]

~Alema Valla~​

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Faction: The Galactic Empire. Rank: Imperial Initiate Force Sensitive: Yes​

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Species: Twi'lek Sex: Female Height: 1.7 Meters Weight: 55 Kilograms Skin: Blue​

~Personality~​

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"If we're going to make a difference for the galaxy, we don't have time to wait around!" - Alema Valla​

Loyal (+): Alema hasn't enjoyed the company of many friends or even close associates over the course of her life. Even as a youth, the other children treated her standoffishly. As she grew older, she learned two things: no one is who they appear to be, and everyone is out for themselves. Alema was never comfortable with either of these discovered realities. She resolved that she would be different and that she would find others who shared her outlooks. While she treats everyone with the courtesy they are due, once she believes she has found someone who shares her desire to build a better world, she befriends them. And those whom she has befriended, she's prepared to go to the end of the galaxy and back for and is willing to sacrifice and suffer immensely for, because she believes that the path to a better galaxy begins and ends with how we treat each other.

Determined (+):​ Alema is still young, and yet she has already overcome much. The experiences of her life have led her to believe that the only way to make any good is to persevere the bad. When things get tough, she works harder. She is not quick to give up on an ideal or on a person, and when she has set her mind to something she is convinced she will bring about the desired goal- eventually. This trait is as applied in her interpersonal relationships as it is on the field of combat- in both arenas she refuses to back down and take no for an answer, and while that can- in both areas, get her hurt at the end of the day, she's aways ready to stand stalwartly for what she believes in again tomorrow.

Idealistic (+/-): Ironically, her experiences as a child and youth have not forged a spirit of pessimism, or even realism in Alema. Instead, she is practically infused with an unyielding belief that in the end, everything moves towards good if we make it. This is not a passive optimism, but an active idealism. She believes that the galaxy can be a better place but that it will come with blood, sweat, and tears. That is something she is willing to accept if it means that future generations will not have to bear the same heavy burden of their ancestors. Unfortunately, this idealism blinds as much as it enlightens. She is quick to write off apparent contradictions between her ideals and her actions as mere inconveniences that can be resolved in the future, rather than facing the facts of a bad reality that is better abandoned than salvaged.

Naive (-):​ This naïveté is directed not so much at individuals, as she has learned that they are capable of great cruelty without cause, but more at institutions. Alema is generally inclined to believe that the businesses, governments, and large organizations are, broadly speaking, attempting to do good- even if they're pursuing that end in odd ways. She is a firm believer in reform over revolution, after all, she believes that she has personally changed substantially for the better without sacrificing any of what is essentially her. If it can be true on the micro, why not also the macro?

Addict (-):​ Alema was addicted to spice for several yeas, and that kind of addiction leaves lasting marks. While she has not sampled the illicit product in some time, and while she has moved beyond the stage where every minute is a life-or-death struggle with temptation, the spice still calls to her. When things don't go her way, when she's been forced to retreat from an idea she poured her heart and soul into, she's at her most vulnerable to succumbing to temptation. Her addiction has also left her fearful of a relapse, and so she tends to lunge from one activity into another, rarely taking the time to rest or reflect, believing that every moment spent idle is a moment closer to relapse.

~Biography~​

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Alema Valla was born twenty years ago on a derelict space station floating in the orbit of Ryloth. Alema’s mother, Hirani, had been sold to a club on the station as a child and had matured there, earning money as a dancer for her master, the cantina owner. Hirani’s lineage had not been free from bondage in living memory and she had no hope that her daughter would ever be anything more than a slave. This changed, however, when a human male named Sato Ran visited the cantina. Hirani would later recount to her daughter that Sato had been a perfect gentleman, something of an anomaly in her line of work, and the pair seemed naturally drawn to each other. Sato, a wealthy and powerful merchant in the area agreed to purchase Hirani and the infant Alema that same night and whisked them away the slave pins and into a life of luxury.


Alema was taken out of captivity before she could form any memories of her time enslaved, though the fact that she was born in bondage has left an enduring mark in how she views the world and her place in it. Alema was the first in many generations of her family to enjoy a carefree upbringing and happy childhood. Her greatest struggle was simply that she had trouble fitting in at the ritzy school her stepfather paid for, despite the school being present in the Ryloth system, it was attended only by the offspring of the affluent few humans in the area. The other school children teased her relentless, both for her racial heritage and also for coming from a so-called ‘bad home.’ Alema had no idea what they meant by that, nor was it likely that the children knew themselves, rather, she concluded later in life, the were likely just repeating what they had heard their parents say. Regardless, Alema was educated at home after she complained about the bullying, her stepfather arranged for private tutors to be brought from the core to the system for her benefit and she continued to do well in her studies.

It was, at the young age of twelve that her life changed. Her mother woke her in the middle of the night and informed her they had to leave- quickly. They didn’t have time to pack and they raced with only the clothes on their back and a few files that her stepfather had insisted were too important to leave behind. The family raced to their private shuttle docked in the station they called home, only to be surprised by blaster fire as they turned into the hanger bay. Sato, to the girl’s astonishment, produced his own blaster and fired at their assailants with pinpoint accuracy, hitting two of them before being forced to surrender in the face of far superior numbers.

Alema learned later that evening that the men who had shot at her were constables and her father was amongst the most notorious crime lords in the sector. The Ran Syndicate specialized in the procurement of Twi’lek children to be sold the marauding slavers. Ironically, it wasn’t this that brought her father’s illicit empire to its knees, rather, it was there recent expansion into spice smuggling that had caught the attention of the core worlds who had pressured what passed for a government in the Ryloth system to take action. It seemed her parents’ happy relationship, though it had been genuine, was not made of durasteel. The authorities convinced her mother to testify against her husband. She never had the opportunity to do so in court. Before trial, her mother was killed quietly in the night, presumably under the direction of her stepfather. The assassination only served to delay matters, however, and Sato was sentences to several decades of hard labor. He hadn’t served five before he was killed in a dispute with some of the other convicts.

Alema was transferred to the custody of the local government. However, it was as inept as it was corrupt and within a year she found herself sold to be a dancer in a cantina on Tatooine, ironically, she was delivered to the slavers by former associates of her stepfather’s, though that earned her no special treatment. Alema would work in that cantina for three years, learning to fend for herself against both the patrons and the other slaves and workers. Her master noticed her intellect and appreciated the education she had received and took her under his wing, having her run errands and manage some of the less delicate of his affairs. Besides the cantina, he was also a local peddler of spice, not only did it turn a tidy little profit, but it also brought people into the cantina to drink and watch the girls dance. He also introduced her to spice, ryll being her poison of choice. Its corrupting influence diminished her faculties but also numbed her to the world she had come to live in.

It was in this stage of life when a strange Togruta gentleman entered the cantina, Alema noticed that he seemed suspicious and it was as if she could somehow feel that he was unique. She approached him and discovered that this man was indeed no ordinary patron, but rather, a Jedi. Sent to track down a particular spice dealer who had apparently run amuck of some very powerful interests. The two spoke only briefly, but it was an impactful encounter. She offered the information she knew of the dealings between her master and the Jedi’s target and they went their separate ways. After he had dispatched the man, he returned and offered to buy Alema from her master- while he initially put up some resistance, the man convinced him with little more than wave and a few credits. Afterwards, the man, Sabreek, explained that he had purchased her not to own, but to liberate. He told her that she was free to leave if she wished, but that he was a Jedi and was willing to instruct her in his ways.

The thought of freedom was sweet and tempting, but Alema felt that if she stayed and learned, perhaps she would be able to guarantee her own lasting freedom, something she seemed incapable of securing alone. And so, she stayed with Sabreek, apparently, he had left anything resembling an order over a decade before having met her to pursue his own path. He offered little in the way of philosophical instruction, preferring that she set her own beliefs unfettered from unnecessary influence, and taught her mostly through experience. She tagged along on the various odd jobs he was hired to perform around the galaxy and through brief, largely physically focused training routines on occasion. While Sabreek taught her how to use a lightsaber and how to sense through the force, undoubtedly his most substantial gift to Alema was her freedom- not only from her physical master but also from her addiction. It had taken weeks of absolute torment, followed by months of temptation, but eventually she overcame her spice addiction, though the memory of its liberating effects still dances in the recesses of her mind even today.

She sojourned with Sabreek for three years before he proposed they go their separate ways. Apparently, he had grown concerned that he held too much influence over the girl and didn’t desire to ‘pull her from her own path.’ He gave her some credits and her saber and set her free to make her own way in the galaxy and she’s been attempting to do so ever since.

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~Strengths and Weaknesses~​

Bladework (+): Alema is competent with the lightsaber at her hip. Her master believed that training a force sensitive with the saber was less likely to overwrite their free will than instruction in the Force. As a result, her lessons with Sabreek were centered on saber combat rather than Force lessons. Her 'on the job training' routine only served to further this, a young force user is more likely to reach for her saber than reach out with the Force when blaster fire is coming her way. As a result, Alema is quick to pull her saber at the first sign of trouble. When in combat, she relies, not on strength, nor even on strategy, but on her sheer relentlessness to tire her opponent. Her strategy involves countless strikes in rapid succession while using the force to augment her natural swiftness and agility, allowing her to seemingly strike in several directions simultaneously. However, he reliance on fluid mobility in combat is also a weakness, in tight, confining spaces, she's very much out of her element. In addition, unless she can shift momentum away from an aggressive, stronger opponent, she will suffer as her strategy is not designed for an especially robust defense.

Agility (+): Even from a young age Alema was quick and nimble. While living on Tatooine, Alema relied on her speed to either escape from fights to fight them on her terms. She is accustomed to not being the strongest person in the room, and she compensates for it by being faster and more maneuverable. She is also very good at dodging blows and is, simply put, very hard to hit. Not only that, but Alema is blessed with an abundance of stamina, meaning that she can keep ducking and dodging until her opponent eventually tires and leaves themselves exposed- an opening she still has more than enough energy to exploit. However, she is not an endless fountain of energy- if she is confronted on multiple fronts by several opponents, she will not be able to dedicate her efforts to any one of them. The result will, naturally, be her own exhaustion. As she depends on rapid movement as the cornerstone of both her offensive and defensive strategies, this typically spells disaster for the girl. Fortunately, when she does encounter such situations, her immediate instinct is to flee- something she is typically capable of doing.

Social Chameleon (+): Alema's stepfather was a wealthy man, and while that wealth did flow from the criminal underworld, he lived the life of a legitimate merchant and raised Alema as the daughter of a merchant prince, not of a kingpin. Due to her early years of proper schooling and high priced tutors, in addition to the many society events her father was fond of attending, Alema is comfortable in very affluent social circles However, she also has formative experiences working as an enslaved dancer and as a courier for a drug dealer. These experiences mean that she is comfortable in even the least reputable of cantinas. She is capable of blinding in and making friends in both worlds with equal ease, and as a result, she rarely finds herself in a social setting where she is out of her element. This allows her to foster friendships and contacts of countless types and variety. In the same manner, she is comfortable interacting even with those who would be her natural enemy- Jedi, Sith, its all meaningless to her and she's eager to establish relationships with members of both groups, refusing to discriminate even where to do so would be natural or perhaps even wise.

Follower (+/-): Some people are born to lead others, others are born to follow them. Alema considers herself to be distinctly in the latter column. While other children in school were encouraged to 'take charge' she was born with an instinctual disdain towards the responsibility that leadership entailed and the practicality that it demands. Instead, she would rather let someone else worry about the details, content to carry out objects set by the higher-ups and never desiring to be one herself. After all, leadership is desk work and she'd rather be in the front lines. At the same time, however, she does get lonely when left to her own devices and so, while she may have an independent streak, she would rather work under someone than on her own. This is something of a mixed bag; on the one hand, she doesn't have to deal with unnecessary confrontation with those who are, as she would say, overly ambitious. This helps her make friends and avoid burning bridges. On the other hand, she is also capable of falling in with the wrong crowd and, should she do so, she's more likely to rationalize the choices made by her superiors rather than question them openly.

​Strength (-): When provoked to fight, Alema tends to zip around a large, open area, delivering as many strikes as possible against an opponent until eventually one lands. The reason for this is simple; she can't take a hit. When forced into a situation where sheer strength is a deciding factor she will almost always be defeated, and soundly at that. This was a problem she encountered early in the slave quarters on Tatooine, those who were stronger got more food and those who got more food grew stronger. It was there that she decided the path of the strength was not her calling and instead learned to rely on speed and stealth as her natural allies, stealing the spoils from the strong. Even now, if she is faced with an enemy who is clearly stronger than she, she tends to be nervous and cautious, knowing that even a single well placed, powerful blow, could end the encounter.

The Force (-): Aside from a few parlor trick level capabilities, Alema is not very experienced with the Force. Most of her use of it rely on augmenting her natural acrobatic or otherwise physical abilities. She makes liberal use of the Force in a fight, but more to enhance herself than to hamper her adversary. Due to her training, and her master's philosophy of independence, she has never been able to perform even the most basic mind trick on even the most simple minded of foes. The idea of lightening spraining from her finger tips actually frightens her, and the idea of using the Force to do anything more than pull someone's foot out from under them, or stopping an small incoming projectile, is generally beyond her capabilities. While she does receive a vague sense from the Force when something is wrong or she is in imminent danger- the same sense that more accomplished Force users rely on to deflect blaster bolts back to their points of origin, for Alema these sensations are somewhat blurry and last minute, not affording her the finesse of more competent Force users.

Idolizer (-): Alema believes there's good to be found in the world, and when she finds it she is devoted to it. She has gone through life largely without the ability to rely heavily on others, and this has made her tired. When she was purchased from the cantina owner by Sabreek, he became her master and- to a real extent- her world. She idolized his willingness to pull her from such a desperate situation and was made even more grateful when he helped free her from her addiction. She would have gone to the end of the galaxy and back for him. This established a dangerous precedent- now that she has been set free, she is quick to seek out potential replacements for her migratory master, someone to fill the void he unwittingly left. Unfortunately, heroes exist to be brought down, and when she realizes that her idol isn't all she imagined them to be, it has profound consequences on her psyche.

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Alema Valla"]

I look forward to seeing you in action. It should make for a good read.

 

[Tanomas Graf]

[member="Alema Valla"]

Good. Good.

The Empire will serve you well.